US Election 2008: The joke is finally on Barack Obama

Have you heard the one about the presidential candidate who was once so popular that comedians were frightened to make jokes about him?

Barack Obama in London during his tour of Europe. Voters are tiring of the wall to wall coverage of his grand pronouncementsPhoto: GETTY IMAGES

By Tim Shipman in Washington

9:02PM BST 09 Aug 2008

The punchline is this: the more seriously he took himself, the more Barack Obama has become a laughing matter.

Only a month ago American comedians and satirists were complaining that they found it hard to get people to laugh at the first black presidential nominee. A New Yorker cover cartoon showing him as a Muslim extremist was roundly denounced.

But growing Obama fatigue among voters after his pseudo-presidential visit to Europe and the Middle East has unleashed a wave of satirical fire, mocking Mr Obama for his apparent belief that he has the election in the bag.

Last month Jon Stewart, host of the satirical news programme The Daily Show, had to tell his audience that they were allowed to laugh at Mr Obama after a joke fell flat.

But Mr Stewart made comedic hay during the Illinois Senator's international trip, mocking his progress through the Holy Land, where he said the candidate stopped "in Bethlehem to see the manger where he was born."

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Late night comic Jimmy Kimmel also cracked a joke at Mr Obama's expense: "They really love Barack Obama in Germany. He's like a rock star over there. Impressive until you realise that David Hasselhoff is also like a rock star over there."

The jokes are important because they increasingly draw on evidence that voters are tiring of Mr Obama's elevated opinion of himself, the wall to wall coverage of his pronouncements, and the feeling that he should concentrate on voters back home.

A writer with one of the leading comedy shows in the US, who preferred not to be named because of continuing sensitivities about how far comedians should go from some network executives, said: "We had a hard time convincing people that Obama is funny for a long time. Our audiences seemed unsure whether to laugh at him. The first black president is not a gag. But that's changing because he's doing more stuff that's easy to mock and people are more familiar with him."

Too familiar, some say. A poll last week by Pew research found 48 percent of those questioned said they had been hearing too much about the Democratic presidential candidate recently, nearly double the figure for his Republican rival John McCain.

Mr Obama has provided rich fodder for comedians looking to prick his pomposity, predicting that people would look back at his nomination as the moment "when the rise of the oceans began to slow".

He also told Congressmen that his campaign was "the moment . . . that the world is waiting for".

The attitude was summed up by Dana Milbank, the Washington Post's resident political humourist, who declared: "Barack Obama has long been his party's presumptive nominee. Now he's becoming its presumptuous nominee."

Mr Letterman listed top ten signs that Barack Obama is overconfident, which included "Offered Bush 20 bucks for the 'Mission Accomplished' banner" and "Having head measured for Mount Rushmore."

Mr Obama is also under fire for moving politically towards the centre ground, moderating positions he had once boasted were evidence of his unique appeal.

Jay Leno, of the long-running Tonight Show, said: "Barack Obama now says he's open to offshore oil drilling. So, apparently, when he promised change, he was talking about his mind."

BEST OBAMA JOKES

Craig Ferguson: "Barack Obama was in Germany" today, and "he did this speech and 100,000 people showed up. There were so many Germans shouting and screaming that France...surrendered just in case."

Jimmy Kimmel: "They really love Barack Obama in Germany. He's like a rock star over there. Impressive until you realize that David Hasselhoff is also like a rock star over there."

David Letterman: Signs Barack Obama Is Overconfident.

Proposed bill to change Oklahoma to 'Oklabama.'

Offered Bush 20 bucks for the 'Mission Accomplished' banner.

Asked guy at Staples, 'Which chair will work best in an oval-shaped office?'

Jay Leno: "Obama's people are trying to portray McCain as cranky, and McCain is trying to portray Obama as arrogant, you see. And when Obama was asked what he thought about being called arrogant, well, he said he was 'above having to answer that question.'"

Jay Leno: "See Barack Obama on the news? He's becoming a workout fanatic. He's at the gym, like, twice a day, sometimes three times a day at the gym, yeah, according to his staff. Well, he has to stay in shape to do those flip-flops."

Jay Leno: "Barack Obama back from his big European tour. Did you see him in Europe? People were cheering him, holding up signs, blowing him kisses. And that was just the American media covering the story."